135,000 Alcohol-Related Cancer Deaths Predicted in UK by 2035

Alcohol will cause around 135,000 cancer deaths over the next 20 years and will cost the NHS an estimated £2 billion in treatments, according to estimates from a new report by Sheffield University, commissioned by Cancer Research UK. Alcohol is a major contributor to the UK’s burden of mortality and disease and is the country’s 6th leading cause of disability adjusted life-years.

The new figures, published November 18th, reveal that by 2035 the UK could see around 7,100 cancer deaths every year that are associated with alcohol. Of the cancer types included in the report, oesophageal cancer is set to see the largest increase, followed by bowel cancer, mouth and throat cancer, breast cancer and liver cancer.

The report also forecasts that there will be over 1.2 million hospital admissions for cancer over the 20 year period, which will cost the NHS £100 million, on average, every year.

The results were based on analyses that assume alcohol drinking trends will follow those seen over the last 40 years, and takes recent falls in alcohol consumption, including among young people, into account,

Evidence suggests that the more alcohol you drink, the higher the risk of cancer. UK government guidelines, published earlier this year, advise that both men and women drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week.

The latest figures follow a Cancer Research UK study published earlier in the year that showed 9 in 10 people are unaware of the link between alcohol and cancer, .

The report also examined the impact of introducing a minimum unit price for alcohol in England. It found that over 20 years a 50p minimum price per units of alcohol could reduce deaths linked to alcohol by around 7,200, including around 670 cancer deaths. It would also reduce healthcare costs by £1.3 billion. This follows a recent court decision in Scotland which found that a minimum unit price would not break European law.

Alison Cox, the Director of Prevention at Cancer Research UK, said: “These new figures reveal the devastating impact alcohol will have over the coming years. That’s why it’s hugely important the public are aware of the link between alcohol and cancer, and what they can do to improve their risk.

“If we are to change the nation’s drinking habits and try to mitigate the impact alcohol will have then national health campaigns are needed to provide clear information about the health risks of drinking alcohol.”

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: “These latest figures show the serious consequences for individuals, the NHS and society if the UK government continues to ignore the consequences of the nation’s drinking. In particular they reinforce the need for a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol. It is clear from the report that MUP will save lives, including those lost to cancer, and ease the burden on our health service. Importantly, MUP will do this while leaving moderate drinkers and prices in pubs and bars unaffected.

In addition, we need mandatory health information on the labels of all alcoholic products, informing the public of the link between alcohol and cancer, and the new low-risk drinking guidelines.

The public have the right to know about how their drinking impacts their health, so that they are empowered to make informed choices.”

Comments

Alcohol-Related Cancers, Winston Churchill and Vadim Shapoval (Father of Oncology). Drinking alcohol can lead to 7 kinds of cancer, study finds. People who smoke and drink multiply the risk for certain cancers, because tobacco and alcohol work together to damage the cells of the body. Obesity is a risk factor for some cancers. Cancers are age-related, much more frequent in the old than in the young. Consider Winston Churchill. Though average in height, Churchill weighed upwards of 250 pounds. He smoked cigars. He drank relatively heavily. He did not jog or work out. He lived to age 90. Stalin and Churchill. Sometimes they would only be sober for around 2 hours a day. Is this true? Stalin and Mao; Stalin’s sharashkas and Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Heavy smokers (Churchill, Stalin and Mao) beat pre-cancers because they had wonderful anticancer genes (iron-deficiency genes) and anticancer health problems (iron-deficiency health problems). Certain intestinal diseases that affect how the body absorbs iron can cause iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Anticancer IDA can result from long-term blood loss (hemorrhoids). People suffering with certain chronic diseases are more likely to develop anticancer IDA. It occurs in certain chronic inflammatory conditions and is believed to be due to the some of the inflammatory chemicals affecting the utilization of iron and shifting bone marrow activity to producing more white blood cells at the expense of red blood cells. Some of the conditions that may lead to anticancer IDA include autoimmune conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, IBD, SLE), chronic liver and kidney diseases and long term infections. Anticancer IDA can neutralize: 1) pre-cancers; 2) cancers (direct intratumoral injections of iron-deficiency substances are needed when tumors/metastases cannot be removed with surgery); 3) ALS (ALS affects iron-overloaded nerve cells found in the brain and spinal cord); 4) antibiotic resistant bacteria (bacteria that are not controlled or killed by antibiotics); 5) HIV (some HIV-positive people spontaneously revert to HIV-negative). Iron overload is a well-recognized cause of death among patients who underwent transplantation. Alcoholics love alcohol; scientists and researchers love money; cancers, ALS and HIV love iron, Vadim Shapoval (Father of Oncology) explains. According to Vanga (Legendary Bulgarian Prophetess), humanity will stop the cancer epidemic and the AIDS epidemic, but a new disease will be worse than cancer and AIDS. Will the Black Death (plague) return or a new autoimmune disease will affect millions of people? http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/opinions/199900 ; https://plus.google.com/107119198688120551734/posts/RBA3M6FTtWp ; /health/2016/11/135000-alcohol-related-cancer-deaths-predicted-in-uk-by-2035-2685470.html ; Vadim Shapoval